carpenter



B B.. u n D DHA m (NO Model'.

(%- J. G OAPu Paatelit Mar. 24, 1891.

NiTE S ra rns ATENT GEORGE J. OARPENTER, OF BRIDGrIEPORT, CONNFICTIOIIT, ASSIGNOR TO HIITTOKS & JOIINSON, OF SAME PLACE.

CARFIIAG E-TOP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 448,931, dated March 24, 1891.

I Application Eled October 25, 1890. Serial No. 369,339. (No model.) i

Be it known that I, Gnonon J. OARPENTER, a Citizen of the United States, residing -a-t Bridgeport, in the county of Fairfield and State of Connectiout, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Carriage- Tops; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable otl1ers Skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. 1

My invention is applicable to all classes of carriages, coaches, cho., having solid-i. e., rigid--tops, and has for its object to devise a way of covering the tops with cloth that will be simple, inexpen sive, and durable beyond anything heretofore placed upon the market, the special features of novelty and utility beng that the top joints are all covered, a per.- fectly even and Smooth surface is insured, there being no ra-ggetl edge where the cloth ends,and the use of nails beingwholly avoided. It is of course well nnderstood that carriages of all classes, especially coaches for public use, are subject to great changes in temperature. It is furthernnore apparent that frequent alternations of heat and cold and rain and sunshine must cause expansion and contraction of the Wood and tend to open the joints, the greatest trouble being at the joints near the edge of the carriage, where the sidepanels and top, join the frame. The manner in which the frame of the top is made has nothing whatever to do with 1ny invention, whicl1 is applicable to all classes of solid tops, whether made of blocks, cross-veneers, or in any ordinary or preferred manner. In making carriage-tops the ordinary mode is to cover the frames With strong heavy cloth, usually canvas, which is iirmly secured to tl1e top, and then covered with numerous coats of paint and varnish until a fine hard enamel is formed. The cloth maybe held in place by any suitable adhesive material, as glue,varnish, or white lead. There is danger, however, of the edges becoming loose unless they are additionally Secured by t11e use of fine nails driven closely together, which, however,ieaves a rongh surface no matter how carefully the work is done, the slight depressions requiring careful filling in and the cloth being left With an exposed raw edge: The use of nails has, furtherrnore, been found objectionable for the reason that the Shrinking and swelling of th e Wood tends to lift the nails more or less'throwing them out from t-he wood, which quickly makes the top look uneven, and in the course of one or two sea ons is very apt to break the enamel. Still another obj ection to this mode of securing the cloth is, that in order to make the nails hold at all it is necessary to drive them transversely to the grain of the wood, which necessitates fastening the outer edge of the cloth to the frame instead of carrying it past the joints, as the nails will not hold if driven into the ends of the panels enclwise to the grain of the wood. ilfy present invention, in addition to dispensing with the use of nails, enables me to carry the cloth past the top joints, thus fully covering and protecting the points which alyo niost invariably give out first in carriage-tops, it being apparent that as soon as the slightest crack in the enan1el is formed at or near a joint moisture will work in and quickly complete the work of destruction.

In the accompanying drawings,forming part of this specification, Figure l is a perspective of a carriage-top, showing both the enarnel and the cloth broken away to illustrate the practical use of rnyinvention, Fig. EZ,a section on the line indicated by 96 in Figi; Fig.3, asection on the line indicated byg in Fig. 1, Fig'. 4, a view of a tool which I use in fastening the cloth in place; and Fi g. 5 is a section correspondin g with Fig. 9, illustrating the ordinary way of attaching tlle cloth to the top by the use of nails placed inside the joint, leaving the joint protected only by the coat of enamel, which is likely to be broken by the lifting of the nails through expansion and contraction of the wood.

1 denotes the frame, which maybe 1nadein any suitable or preferred manner; 2, t-he top; 3, the cloth covering; i-,the enamel; ,the side and back panels, in which the grain of the 95 Wood runs vertically, as is usual, and 6 the door. L

It is not considered necessary to go into the details of construction of a carriage-top, as the style of carriage to which my invention 100 is applied is wholly immaterial, it being equally aclapted to any of the various styles of earriages for public or private use.

'7 denotes the joint between the frame and the top, and 8 the joint between the frame and the panels.

In applying the cloth to a carriage-top I first make a. groove EJ near the outer edge of the top, the said groove being endwise of the grain of the wood in the said panels, a-s will be obrions. The cloth covering, thoroughly saturated with suitable adhesive material, or- Clinarily giue, is then laid on in the usual manner, the groove being also filled with the adhesive material. I then, by means of a suitable tool-such, for instance, as the wheeltool illustrated in Fig. i-crowd a fold 10 of the covering-cloth down into the groove, the projecting edge Of cloth being then carefully trimmed, so that there is no exposed raw edge, as when nails are used. It will be understood of course, that in the drawings the relative proportions are sornewhat exaggerated in OI'- tler to illustrate the invention clearly. In practice, however, the groove is made so small that considerable pressure is required to force the fold of cloth down into it, and when it is once there a porfectly tight and smooth edge. is

form ed which, is in 110 danger of getting loose, even when subjected to long-continued hard usage. After the cloth has been laid on and secured in this manner and the glue or other adhesive material is dry, the usual enamel iS formed over it by numerous coats of paint and varnish, each Of which is dried thoroughly and then rubbed down.

Having thus described lily invention, I claim- A carriage-body comprising a frame 1,-a top piece 2, and side and back panels ,with joints 7 and 8 between the said top piece and frame and between the said frame and panels, respectively, the said panels being grooved at their upper ends endwise of the grain of the Wood outside of the said joint 8 at 0, a cloth covering extending over the said jointS and having its outer edges Secured in the groove of the panels, and an enamel surface formed in the usual manner over the cloth and panels, substantially as set: forth.

In testimonywhereof I affix my signatu re in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE J.

W'itnesses:

:\- M. WOOSTER, W. B. lilIDDLBROOK'.

ARPFIN'FER. 

